Page 24 of Forever & Always You

No one calls back to him. No one comes running through the house.

Austin furrows his eyebrows as he advances through the house with me close on his heels, and I note that it feels exactly how their old apartment in the projects used to feel.

Honestly, kind of a cluttered mess. Belongings scattered everywhere, photo frames stuck haphazardly on the walls, the kitchen countertops covered in mail and cables.

The complete opposite of the perfectly manicured home I grew up in, so spotless it was like no one lived there at all.

Austin may have grown up in a cramped apartment, but at least it breathed life.

“Oh, they’re out back,” he says, pulling open the door to the yard.

Outside, his parents relax in lawn chairs, coffee mugs in hand, and I think of my mom sitting in the yard all by herself, drinking wine and reading her books, when once upon a time she would sit outside laughing with Dad.

“Austin!” Caroline exclaims, sitting upright from the lawn chair in surprise. “I didn’t know you were stopping by.”

“And by some miracle, you’ve caught us both for once!” Mike adds, and I’m impressed that I still remember both their names. He dumps his mug on the small glass table— triggered— between the lawn chairs and gets to his feet. “How’s it going, bud? Who’s this?”

Mike looks at me curiously, and I feel myself wishing to shrink away behind the safety of Austin’s tall figure, except Austin takes a giant step to the side to fully reveal me, and I’m left exposed with no place to hide.

“You guys remember Gabrielle,” Austin says, but there’s the slightest hint of nerves in his voice. Maybe he has no idea what to expect, either. “From across the street?”

“Oh,” Mike says flatly, and the polite smile on his face immediately rearranges itself into a frown. He exchanges a look with Caroline, who scowls in response before casting a scornful look in my direction.

Yep, they hate me, which is to be expected and is no less than I deserve, but which now makes this very awkward.

“Hi,” I say sheepishly, but neither of them even replies. It’s absolutely mortifying, being ignored with such contempt. Austin bringing me here was a terrible idea.

Caroline stands from her lawn chair and treads warily toward us. She places a hand on Austin’s arm and studies him thoroughly. “Honey, what’s going on? Why is she here?”

“We’re working some things out,” Austin says, checking in on me out of the corner of his eye.

Perhaps he’s regretting this idea, too. Maybe he’s regretting everything, but I don’t want him to regret giving me a second chance.

I don’t want his parents putting doubt in his mind, so despite the absolute look of death his father is currently giving me, I bravely shuffle closer to him.

“Now why the hell would you be so stupid as to get in contact with her again?” Mike asks, shaking his head in disapproval as though I’m not standing right here in front of him.

Mike’s a rather intimidating man—tall just like Austin, but built like a wrestler, with broad shoulders and muscular arms covered in decades-old tattoos that have seen better times.

Frustration etches itself into every crevice of Austin’s face, and he rubs his hand over his jaw as he heaves a sigh. “I didn’t. She came to me.”

Caroline scoffs and sets her fierce eyes on me. They’re ocean blue, just like Austin’s. “Oh, I see. He’s good enough to be in your life now, is he? Has enough money to be worthy?”

“ Mom, ” Austin warns, and he actually takes a defensive step in front of me, which is really fucking appreciated because I think I might cry. “Gabby, ignore them.”

“Ignore us!” Mike repeats with an indignant laugh. “Isn’t it convenient she comes crawling back now ? C’mon, Austin. Don’t be a goddamn idiot.”

“Listen to your dad,” Caroline says, reaching out to touch Austin’s arm again, but he immediately shakes her off. “I’m not comfortable having her in this house, Austin. Please, I’d like you to leave, Gabrielle.”

“Okay,” Austin says angrily. “I’ll come see you guys another time then.”

“No, not you,” Mike says.

“Yes, me too. If you’re both going to talk like this right in front of her , then we’re both leaving,” he explains, and Caroline’s mouth parts in shock. “You have opinions? Then you share them with me later. In private. You don’t act like this.”

Caroline seems to pale as she places her hand over her heart, in a gesture of rejection. “We’re only looking out for you.”

“I can look out for myself,” Austin snaps, and I flinch as the guilt pumps through my veins. I don’t want to be the reason he argues with his parents. “She found me to apologize, and it’s up to me whether or not I accept it.”

“Austin, it’s okay,” I say, finding my pathetic little voice. “I’ll leave.”

“Thank you,” Mike says sharply, gesturing to the back gate.

As I take a step forward, Austin catches my elbow. “No, Gabby.”

“ Austin, ” Caroline pleads, but since she can’t seem to get through to him, she turns her focus on me instead. “Gabrielle, you must understand, surely?”

“I do,” I say, nodding meekly, “but I regret everything I ever did. If I could change the past, I would. We were just kids, Caroline, and I know what I did was awful, but we’re adults now. We can move on, can’t we?”

Caroline and Mike look at one another with an incredulous air of astonishment, and something strange settles in the pit of my stomach.

Am I just being ignorant? I know I was the worst person in the world to Austin, and of course his parents are going to fiercely have his back no matter what, but we were teenagers .

I don’t expect them to like me, but I definitely wasn’t prepared for such outright hatred.

We’re twenty-four now. High school was forever ago, yet it may as well be yesterday with the way they’re treating me.

Their grudge may even be stronger than Austin’s.

“Just kids .?.?.” Mike mutters, his intense eyes piercing straight through me. “You think that makes it okay, do you? Your father certainly didn’t think so, otherwise he wouldn’t have—”

“ Dad, ” Austin hisses, abruptly cutting Mike off.

Caroline widens her eyes at Mike, conveying the very clear and concise order not to say another word, and the stifling atmosphere around the four us plunges into something even worse—stone cold silence.

I turn to Austin, but he’s squeezing his eyes shut and pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation.

Mike’s hardened exterior suddenly seems flushed with guilt, and Caroline is the only one who makes eye contact with me.

My entire body feels as though it’s turned to ice, and I stand there stiff and vulnerable, my thoughts racing to make any kind of sense of Mike’s words.

I swallow hard and stare at Mike. My voice so quiet I’m surprised anyone even hears me, I ask, “What do you mean?” But Mike can’t look back at me.

He scratches his neck and keeps his mouth sealed shut.

“Austin,” I whisper, twisting to face him instead.

I move a step closer and clutch his wrist, staring pleadingly up at him. “What does he mean?”

“Nothing, Gabby,” Austin murmurs, but his words are the least convincing thing in the world. His expression is contrite, downcast, as his eyes lock on my hand around his wrist.

“My father wouldn’t have what ?” I prompt, harder now as the blood rushes to my ears. There’s a sickening sense of panic and fear, like they all know something I don’t, and I can’t bear to be the only one left in the dark. “If you don’t look at me right now, Austin, and start talking—”

Austin lifts his gaze. “I can’t.”

“Wow.” I recoil from him, because how dare they speak of my father and then not tell me what the fuck they’re talking about? They didn’t even know my dad, and the confusion makes me feel faint. “Caroline?” I try, one last time.

But Caroline only shakes her head slowly, and even she looks guilty. “We can’t, Gabrielle.”

There is no way I can stay here a second longer, not with their refusal to offer me an explanation. Caroline and Mike? Whatever. They hate me and owe me nothing. Austin, however? It hurts that he won’t tell me.

I clench my jaw and flash him a seething look of betrayal, right before I turn and walk away. Furiously, I kick open the gate and storm out onto the street.

“Gabby!” Austin yells. He barges through the gate after me, racing down the drive.

“We’re supposed to be building trust,” I spit at him, pausing only for a second to let him catch up. “You guys are talking about my dad. How can you not be honest with me about that?”

Austin pushes his hands back through his hair and groans in frustration. “I can’t tell you,” he says, “ because of your dad.”

I scrunch up my face, even more perplexed than I was half a second ago. “What? That makes no sense.”

“Can you please forget my dad said anything?”

“ Forget your dad said anything? ” I repeat.

Now I’m at the point where I’m that pissed, I could laugh.

“I’m walking back to the shop to get my car, and then I’m going home to my apartment because my plumbing is fixed.

It’s up to you whether or not you tell me the truth between now and then.

And if you don’t .?.?.” I release a shaky breath.

“Then yeah, I don’t think we can be friends again, after all. ”

Austin’s face falls, and I can’t bear to look at his sad blue eyes.

I set off down the street and don’t look back, not even once.